There are several different types of exercise, including aerobic exercise and strength training. Many types of exercise are aerobic, which involve or improve oxygen consumption by the body. Generally performed at a moderate level of intensity over a relatively sustained period of time, aerobic exercises tend to strengthen and enlarge the heart muscle, thereby improving its pumping efficiency and reducing the resting heart rate; to strengthen the muscles involved in respiration, thereby facilitating the flow of air into and out of the lungs; to strengthen muscles throughout the body; to improve circulation and reduce blood pressure; to increase the total number of red blood cells in the body, thereby facilitating the transport of oxygen; and to improve mental health, including reducing stress and lowering the incidence of depression.
Many pieces of exercise equipment have been built for aerobic exercise, including stationary bicycles, stair-climbing machines, elliptical machines, and treadmills. While efficient for their intended purpose, these machines are generally limited to a single exercise (for example, walking), which may cause a user to become bored or muscle-fatigued over time. In addition, these machines are unable to be modified for strength training, as well as aerobic training.
Strength, or resistance, training is the use of resistance to muscular contraction to build the strength, anaerobic endurance, and size of skeletal muscles. There are many different methods of strength training, the most common being the use of gravity or elastic/hydraulic forces to oppose muscle contraction. Training commonly uses a variety of exercises and types of equipment to target specific muscle groups and often incrementally increases the amount of weight, elastic tension, or other resistance experienced to progressively increase muscle strength.
When properly performed, strength training exercises provide significant benefits to a person's health and well-being, including increasing bone, muscle, tendon, and ligament strength; improving joint function; increasing bone density; improving cardiac function; and reducing the potential for injury.
Equipment used for strength training includes weight boards, resistance bands, Swiss balls, and wobble boards. Some proponents of strength training have adapted it from being a primarily anaerobic exercise to an aerobic exercise through development of circuit training regimens.
What is needed in the industry is a piece of fitness equipment that may be used by persons of different heights, weights, and abilities for both aerobic and strength training. Further, what is needed is a piece of fitness equipment that includes controls for varying the resistance experienced by the user, either in response to a programmed series of instructions or to performance feedback acquired from the user.